The challenge faced today is that several RF wireless networks exist (satellite, terrestrial, wideband and narrow band) in frequency ranges from AM broadcast through to the high gigahertz for satellite transmission and also with a myriad of technology or air interfaces. Individually, a single RF network may not complete a desired solution but if combined with another type of RF network or networks would be ideal.
Several current technologies allow for frequency band and network switching, allowing mobile communicators to select the available carrier in the region through which they are passing. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307, issued to Gilhousen et al., and assigned to Qualcomm, Inc., describes a multiple access, spread spectrum communication system and method for providing high capacity communications to, from, or between a plurality of system users, using code-division-spread-spectrum communication signals. The system described therein uses various configurations of circuitry and power level variation to allow for dynamic carrier switching, including between satellite carriers and terrestrial carriers. Such a system may be used by the system of the present invention to accomplish carrier switching, and therefore the contents of U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307 is hereby incorporated by reference in full herein.
None of the prior art systems, though, provide optimal carrier selection based on quality of service issues, least cost routing and/or characteristics of the data that is being sent. Nor do prior art systems provide one or more hubs or network routing systems that verify service for the mobile communicators and perform message path routing. Nor do prior art systems provide automatic lookup of the current carriers being used by each mobile communicator at a network routing center.